Archive:Balthasar von Brandt
'Introduction' You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way Patently, Balthasar styles himself as a scholar, but of what field, or of what institution he does not say. He introduces himself as a Magister, despite the reeking sin'dorei connotation. He listens more than he talks, but when he talks he spins wild stories placing him as having served everywhere from Kalimdor to Lordaeron during the events of the Third War, with facts changing with each telling. 'Names' What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. This seems to be the same idea that Balthasar has taken in regards to his moniker. Born Balthasar von Brandt, he has come to be more commonly known by the monikers “Caedon Moore”, “Aodh”, most recently, “Adranus”, with many more peppered inbetween. There seems no rhyme or reason to the choosing, but each fits him like a well worn mantle. 'Physical Appearance' He carries himself with a haughty bred-in arrogance he seems oblivious to; as a result, his every movement and gesture is lacquered in a slick sort of swagger. His cheekbones and grooming have an aristocratic feel ruined by the coarseness of his whiskers and the half-feral glint to his eyes. His canines are prominent when he speaks, and his voice carries in deep, cultured baritone; his accent is cultured, but not Gilnean. One of his more distinctive features was his golden hair, which he took great pride in. Recently it has taken on a rusty copper tint, the source of which is said to be the Worgen curse. Privately he is distasteful of the change, but more know his recent persona, Adranus, with the rusty hair than without, so it is hard to openly lament the loss and expect sympathy. He attempts to affect a facsimile of properly fashionable fastidiousness, but the illusion is dispelled handily by the singes, oil stains and fraying that mars each and every one of his trappings to some degree or another. 'Personality' Balthasar is a very guarded individual. That is not to say he is unsociable, but he does not like to dip beneath the surface, and expects others to afford the same courtesy in return. On the surface, he possesses a quick wit and ready charm, and he is quick with an inappropriate comment and a smile to ease the sting. He is an unrepentant philanderer, yet his flirtations remain chaste. In all things, he prefers the thrill of the chase, as he doesn't seem to quite to know what to do with anything once he's caught it. In some ways he seems flighty, but there seems always to be a method to his apparent madness. Beneath the lacquer, however, there is a definite melancholy, one he chooses to explore only in the bottom of a bottle. In privacy, and on his own terms, of course, as he knows his way around the bottle, and when to stop before the smile fades. 'History' The earliest public records of Balthasar place him as a student in Dalaran, 18 years after the Fall of Stormwind, only son of a Lord Brandt who fell in the early days of the First War. Records kept by the mages of the Kirin Tor indicate that he was a bright student, but many among his generation of magi were bright, and the only thing of note one could find was his exceptional disciplinary record for petty infractions. From here, his past grows murky. His own, likely falsified, accounts peg him as embarking on a humanitarian effort to the quarantined villages at the onset of the Third War. He claims altruism in his presence there, but it is said in Dalaran that mostly delinquent arcanists were sent to assist in quarantine areas, as at the time no one knew the dire implications of the mysterious plague. Regardless of motive, Balthasar insists that he was at the epicenter of the Scourge of Lordaeron, and subsequent sacking of the kingdom by the Scourge and Traitor King. Contrary to normal show boating, Balthasar is tight lipped on the subject, and he does not comment on reports of a familiar sounding golden haired former Inquisitor of the Scarlet Crusade whose bounty is still active in the Scarlet Monastery. He will more rapaciously tell stories of Caedon Moore and the heroic victory against Admiral Proudmoore in Theramore, or of Aodh's hand in the violent arbitration of the territorial disputes between the Stormpike and Frostwolf in Alterac, or Adranus' multilateral efforts in the “Second War of the Shifting Sands”. While tales of his heroics are likely greatly exaggerated, ledgers show that Balthasar has been paid the king's coin as part of many of the recent war efforts, from the re-opening of the Dark Portal, to the subsequent reclamation efforts in Outland, and the counter attack against the Scourge in Northrend. He served the Kirin Tor with distinction in the Nexus War, and though acclamations were made to a champion “Baltazaar”, the Gnomish photographs of the various celebration ceremonies show a very familiar face. In more recent days, he styles himself the “mysterious Magister Adranus”, traveling to unknown places to collect unknown stories for an unknown souce. He is an open supporter of the Gilneas Liberation Front. It is said that he willfully took on the Worgen curse in a show of solidarity for the cause, while other tales circulate that he bartered with Shade of Arugal himself for the gift of power at the cost of his immortal soul. Chief among his various other fictitious and real appointments, he is currently the military commander of the pseudo-militant-pacifist-culinary group , though their active campaigns, as well as his efficacy in this capacity, are unknown at best. Category:Archived Characters